JSW to invest Rs 1500 crore in coal mining ops

Rakhi Mazumdar, ET BureauOct 8, 2009, 10.14pm IST

KOLKATA: JSW group is slated to invest close to Rs 1500 crore in its captive coal mining operations in the state. The project is linked to the group's proposed power cum steel project in West Bengal. JSW Energy, the group's power generation arm, will flag off the group's plans in the state through a 800 MW thermal plant in the first phase.

"We will have to pump in no less than Rs 1500 crore for mining operations since we will have to undertake deep underground mining in some of the blocks we have been allotted in the state," Mr Biswadip Gupta, joint managing director and CEO of JSW Bengal Steel, said. "The advantage is that the coal is of good quality with high calorific value, he added.

JSW has been allotted steam coal blocks at Ichhapur and Gourangdih in addition to semi-coking coal ones at Purulia and Sitarampur in West Bengal. JSW group vice chairman Sajjan Jindal and Mr Gupta are due to travel to China later this week to scout for technology providers. It had earlier been in talks with mining companies in Ukraine for the same purpose.